Misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers – Railway Board advised to take extreme precautions while providing access to officials for different modules in IPAS – Railway Board RBA No.46/2022
भारत सरकार Government of India
रेल मंत्रालय Ministry of Railways
रेलवे बोर्ड (Railway Board)
RBA.No.46 /2022
No. 2022/ACII/25/4
New Delhi, dated 14.9.2022.
Principal Financial Advisers,
All Zonal Railways/PUs.
Sub: Misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers.
A case of misappropriation/manipulation of PF Ledgers has been reported by one of the Zonal Railways.
The modus operandi followed involved the fol lowing routes-
- Fraudulent posting of unlinked amounts lying in the account of the Unit (un-posted items), in ledger accounts of certain working employees
- Preparation of fraudulent JVs by debiting Revenue Demand heads with contra credit to the PF head and then posting to PF ledgers of certain employees.
- Fraudulent withdrawal of amount by such employees from their PE account
Prima facie the following acts of omission and commission facilitated the fraud:
- Non implementation of provisions under RBA No. 56/2021 dated 27.10.2021, which emphasises the countersigning of JVs above Rs 1,00,000/ by a JAG officer.
- Weak internal checks- thorough test checks were not carried out, at prescribed intervals,
- Lack of proper scrutiny of unlinked balances, suspense heads
- Sharing of Login IDs/password/OTPs.
To preclude similar occurrences in future, all JVs produced within a unit, which are not supported by transfer transaction certificate, will now be accepted in IPAS only with digital signature of Accounts Officer as per RBA No. 56/2021. Officials concerned may be advised suitably to ensure strict compliance.
Further investigations in the matter are in progress. In the meantime it is desired that-
- Special checks may be carried out on your Railway/ unit to rule out similar incidents, – scrutiny of unlinked balances and Suspense heads
- All Staff may also be sensitised for not sharing their IPAS credentials.
- Extreme precautions to be followed while providing access to officials for different modules in IPAS. Maker- checker principle to be followed at all times
A feedback on the action taken may please be advised to the undersigned, early.
(Ajay Bartwal)
Joint Director Finance (CCA)
Railway Board
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